Means for supporting pit-furnace covers



July 25, 1944.

w. A. MORTON MEANS FOR SUPPORTING PIT-FURNACE COVERS Filed Juhe 4, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR- Wi/l/am A. Marion July 25, 1944. w. A. MORTON MEANS FOR SUPPORTING PIT-FURNACE COVERS Filed June 4; 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lNVENTOR iV/W/EW? A. Morfon Pa tented July 25, 1944 MEANS FOR- SUPPORTING PIT-FURNACE COVERS,

William A. Morton, Mount I ebanon, Pa, assignor to The Ainsler-Mol'ton Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania r Application June 4, lata seriai no. 489,624

8 Claims-- (cl. ass-a1 v This invention relates to pit furnaces and, in

particular, to means for supporting the cover thereof when in position on the furnace.

Covers for pit furnaces, such as soaking Pits for the heating of steel ingots, as previously designed and constructed, have been supported, when placed in position over. the pit, by the margins of the walls thereof. Pit-furnace covers are usually very large and quite heavy and are" frequently removed and replaced. There is thusconsiderable likelihood, with the construction previously employed, of damaging the margins of the pit walls, unless extreme care is exercised in spotting the cover before lowering it. This likelihood is materially increased by the presence of the conventional sealing flange depending from the bottom of the cover, extending continuously around the edges thereof and adapted to enter a sealing channel formed in the top of the pit walls and filled with granular material-suchfurnace with'its cover embodying my invention, positioned thereon, showing also a known form f of crane for raising and supporting the cover;

I Figure 2 is a partial plan view, showing one corner of the cover and crane; 1 j

Figure 3 is a partial section taken substantially along the plane of line III-III of Figure 2 showing the crane andcoverinelevation;

, Figure- 4 is a partial elevation, .to enlarged scale, showing the cooperation'between the projecting' members of the cover "and the supports 7 engagedtherebyiand' I v Figure 5- is aview similar to. Figure 3 showing a modifl' cation.

Referring now in, detail 'thefdrawings andfor the present, to Figures 1- through 4, the upper portions of-the walls 'of-a pit furnace are indi cated at l0.v 'lhesefwalls are laid up from; in-

as sand. It will be readily appreciated that the sealing flangemay seriously damage the pit walls unless the cover is accurately centered before being lowered into its final position of rest on top of the walls.

I have invented a novel means for supportingthe cover of a pit furnace which overcomes the aforementioned objections to the construction previously used. I provide members projecting outwardly from the cover, preferably the prin cipal structural members of the fabricated frame customarily provided to carry the refractory lining which serves as the actual closure for the smelting and refractory tries-within .a binding Ii fabricated from structural membersand plates in the known manner.

A jsealing channel. I! is formed in the-top of the walls and extends con tinuously around the edge'of the "pit.

A coverfor the top of the pitis indicated at it. It is fabricatedfrom structural members including principal longitudinal ,il

transverse beams lifas 'well as the additir'mal auxiliary members necessary to provide a rigid frame for supporting .a. refractory lining jwhich constitutes the actual closure overlyingthetop of the pit. lining'is' composed of refractory brick suspended beneath the cover within a matginal row of castingsv l6 secured below thelongji pit. I also provide supports so positioned outside the furnace walls as to be engaged by the projecting members of the cover frame as it is lowered into position; These supports are carried on a structure outside of and independent'of' the walls of the pit or their binding, 1. e., the

enclosure fabricated from plate and structural members within which the brickwork composing the furnace walls is laid up. "l'he projectingmembers of the cover frame and'the-supports engaged thereby are provided with coactingsurfaces of such shape as to center the cover-automati'cally as it is lowered into position, and thus assure proper alinement of the sealing flange'on ,the cover withthe sealing channel in the top of the furnace walls. A complete understanding of theinvention may be gained from a consideration of the follow ing detailed description and the accompanyingdrawings illustrating a preferred embodiment and a modification. In the drawings, Figure 1 is a partial side elevation of a int tudinai and transverse frame; members A seal ing flange li'a extending around the bottomof the; cover is secured to the castings l6; I As clearly shown in Figures 2 and 3, the endsof the longitudinal beams II project outwardly beyond "the 'coveras defined by the beamsifliq Shoes I! are secured to the bottom'sof the pro-" jectingends of the beams I4 and areadapted-ftoengage chairs or bearing members I8. ,'I he ;mem-' hers 18 include a base la-and a bearing block 20.

of inVertdN-shape; The. members 18 "aresecured to beamsi l outside the furnace walls.

'The beams. ii are supported on" columns (not shown) extending 'upwardlyfroma suitable foundation.- Theshoes II have a V-shaped notch in their-bottom surface as shown in Figure 4 conforming in; shape tothe blocks .20 of the-members It. By virtue. or the shape of the coacting surfaces of the-fshoes andblocks, the:cover l3. centers itself relative to' the furnace "walls as it is lowered ,ontothe supporting: members'and thus insures that the sealing flang 15a properly enters the sealing channel l2. Since the shoes I1 and blocks 20 will correct a considerable misalinement of the cover with respect to the pit, it is unnecessary for the cover to be spotted with a high degree of accuracy. This results in a substantial saving of time in placing the cover over the pit.

For the sake of completeness, I have-shown a known form of crane 22 for lifting and transporting the cover I3. The details of the crane are disclosed in Spencer Patent No. 2,287,645 and a complete description thereof is thus unnecessary. Briefly, the crane includes a frame composed of longitudinal members 23 and transverse members 24. Wheel castings 23' secured to the longitudinal frame members are provided with bearings in which are journaled wheels 25 traveling along rails 26 on opposite sides of the pit. A motor 2! drives the wheels at oneend of the crane through a reducer 28 and gearing 29. Cover-lifting mechanism includes bell cranks 3D pivoted on fixed fulcrums and provided with links 3| from which the cover is suspended. A crank shaft 32 has connecting rods 33 pivoted to the bell cranks whereby the cover I3 is lifted on rotation of the shaft 32 by a motor 34 working through a reducer 35. Instead of the crane shown, a crane of the detachable type asshown in Spencer Patent No. 2,232,281, may be used.

Modified forms of shoes and bearing blocks are shown in Figure 5. Blocks 36 in the form of castings are adapted to receive rollers 31, the rollers being disposed with their axes in inclined. planes intersecting at the median vertical plane through the blocks. The blocks 36 rest on beams 2| corresponding to the beams 2|. Shoes 38 have V-shaped bottom faces adapted to cooperate with the rollers 31 and thereby serve to center the cover in the same manner as the shoes I! and blocks 20. Figure 5 shows how the shoes and blocks may be disposed to center the cover both longitudinally and transversely. For this' purpose, alternate'sets of shoes and blocks progressing around the periphery of the cover and furnace are disposed at right angles. For example, the shoe and block at the left in Figure 5 with a shoe and block similarly arranged at the diagonally opposite comer of the cover serve to center it longitudinally. Similarly, the shoe and block shown at the right in Figure 5, with the diagonally opposite shoe and block likewise arranged, serve to center the cover transversely. It will be apparent that because of the considerable width of the blocks 31. and shoes 38, even a large" error in spotting the cover over the pit will be corrected as the cover descends to its final resting position.

It will be readily understood from the foregoing description that my invention is characterized byimportant advantages over the previous practice in the construction of covers for pit furnaces in that I avoid the likelihood of damage to the margins of thepit walls as a result of placing the cove'r directlythereon; By providing special supporting-' 'members with their own structural framework independent of the furnace binding, I save thewalls from the. destructive effect of lowering the heavy cover repeatedly thereon. I also insure proper positioning of the sealing flange relative to the sealing channel when the cover reaches final position, even though not precisely alined prior to lowering.

Although I have illustrated and described herein but a preferred embodiment of the invention and a modification, it will be recognized that the principles of the invention disclosed may be embodied in forms other than. those shown without departing from the scope of the following claims.

.I claim:

1. A cover for a pit furnace comprising a frame fabricated from structural members provided with a refractory lining and adapted to be lowered over the furnace, chairs on opposite sides of the furnace, and supports for the chairs independent of the furnace, certain of said members extend-- ing outwardly of the cover and having portions adapted to engage said chairs.

2. A cover for a pit furnace comprising a frame including longitudinal and transverse principal members provided with a refractory lining and adapted to be lowered into position over the furnace, cover supportson opposite sides of the furnace, and means independent of the furnace on which said supports are mounted, certain of said members projecting outwardly from the cover and having, portions'adapted to engage said sup- Ports.

3. A cover for a pit furnace comprising a frame including marginal longitudinal and transverse principal members, adapted to be lowered over the furnace, and cover supports outside the furnace, certain of said members extending beyond the cover proper and being adapted to engage said supports as the cover reaches final position.

4. The apparatus defined by claim 3 characterized by means independent of the furnace walls for carrying said supports.

5. A cover for a pit furnace comprising a frame fabricated from structural members provided vwith a refractory lining and adapted to be lowered over the furnace, and bearing members on opposite sides of the furnace for supporting the cover, certain of said frame members extending outwardly from the cover and having shoes adapted to engage said bearing members.

6. The apparatus defined by claim 5 characterized by said bearing members and shoes being of V-shape.

7. A cover for a pit furnace comprising a frame fabricated from structural members provided with a refractory linin and adapted to be loweredover the furnace, and bearing members positioned outwardly of the furnace walls adapted to support the cover, some of' the frame members extending outwardly of the cover and being adapted to engage said bearing members as the cover is lowered over the furnace.

8. A cover for a pit furnace comprising a frame fabricated from structural members and provided with a refractory lining, sealing means on the cover adapted to cooperate with sealing means on the furnace, and bearing members on opposite sides of the furnace for supporting the cover, certain of the frame members extending outwardly from the cover adapted to engage said bearing members, the meeting surfaces of said bearing members and outwardly extending frame members being shaped to guide the cover so that .the sealing means thereon will register with the sealing means on the furnace as the cover is lowered onto said bearing members.

WILLIAM A. MORTON. 

